This research investigated the influence of water-absorbent polymer balls (WAPB) on reinforced concrete beams’ structural behavior experimentally. Four self-compacted reinforced concrete beams of identical geometric layouts 150 mm × 200 mm × 1,500 mm, reinforcement details, and compressive strength
Reflection cracking in asphalt concrete (AC) overlays is a common form of pavement deterioration that occurs when underlying cracks and joints in the pavement structure propagate through an overlay due to thermal and traffic-induced movement, ultimately degrading the pavement’s lifespan and performance. This study aims to determine how alterations in overlay thickness and temperature conditions, the incorporation of chopped fibers, and the use of geotextiles influence the overlay’s capacity to postpone the occurrence of reflection cracking. To achieve the above objective, a total of 36 prism specimens were prepared and tested using an overlay testing machine (OTM). The variables considered in this study were the thickness of the
... Show MoreApplying load to a structural member may result in a bottle-shaped compression field especially when the width of the loading is less than the width of bearing concrete members. At the Building and Construction Department – the University of Technology-Iraq, series tests on fibre reinforced concrete specimens were carried out, subjected to compression forces at the top and bottom of the specimens to produce compression field. The effects of steel fibre content, concrete compressive strength, transverse tension reinforcement, the height of test specimen, and the ratio of the width of loading plate to specimen width were studied by testing a total of tenth normal strength concrete blocks with steel fibre and one normal s
... Show MoreThis study aims to find the effect of water-cement ratio on the compressive strength of concrete by using ultrasonic pulse velocity test (UPVT). Over 230 standard cube specimens were used in this study, with dimensions of 150mm, and concrete cubes were cured in water at 20 °C. Also, the specimens used in the study were made of concrete with varied water-cement ratio contents from 0.48 to 0.59. The specimens were taken from Diyarbakir-Turkey concrete centers and tested at the structure and material science lab, civil engineering, faculty of engineering from Dicle University. The UPV measurement and compressive strength tests were carried out at the concrete age of 28 days. Their UPV and compressive strength ranged
... Show MorePollutants generation is strongly dependant on the firing temperature and reaction rates of the gaseous reactants in the gas turbine combustion chamber. An experimental study is conducted on a two-shaft T200D micro-gas turbine engine in order to evaluate the impact of injecting ethanol directly into the compressor inlet air on the exhaust emissions. The study is carried out in constant speed and constant load engine tests. Generally, the results showed that when ethanol was added in a concentration of 20% by volume of fuel flow; NOx emission was reduced by the half, while CO and UHC emissions were almost doubled with respect to their levels when burning conventional LPG fuel alone.
The performance of asphalt concrete pavement has affected by many factors, the temperature is the most important environmental one which has a large effect on the structural behavior of flexible pavement materials. The main cause of premature failure of pavement is the rutting, Due to the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt cement, rutting is more pronounced in hot climate areas because the viscosity of the asphalt binder which is
inversely related to rutting is significantly reduced with the increase in temperature resulting in a more rut susceptible paving mixtures. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of temperatures variations on the permanent deformation parameters (perm
In this study, the effects of different loading doses of cerium in the prepared NaY zeolite from Iraqi kaolin were investigated. Al-Duara refinery atmospheric residue fluid catalytic cracking was selected as palpation reaction for testing the catalytic activity of cerium loading NaY zeolite. The insertion of cerium in NaY zeolites has been synthesized by simple ion exchange methods. Three samples of modified zeolite Y have been obtained by replacing the sodium ions in the original sample with cerium and the weight percent added are 0.35, 0.64, and 1.06 respectively. The effects of cerium loading to zeolite Y in different weight percent on the cracking catalysts were studied by employing a laboratory fluidized
... Show MoreNew polymer blend with enhanced properties was prepared from (80 %) epoxy resin (Ep), (20%) unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) as a matrix material. The as-obtained polymer blend was further reinforced by adding Sand particles of particle size (53 μm) with various weight fraction (5, 10, 15, 20 %). Thermal conductivity and sorption measurements are performed in order to determine diffusion coefficient in different chemical solutions (NaOH, HCl) with concentration (0.3N) after immersion for specific period of time (30 days). The obtained results demonstrate that the addition of sand powder to (80%EP/20%UPE) blend leads to an increase of thermal conductivity, with an optimum/minimum diffusion coefficient in (HCl)/(NaOH), respectively.
This work introduces a new electrode geometry for making holes with high aspect ratios on AISI 304 using an electrical discharge drilling (EDD) process. In addition to commercially available cylindrical hollow electrodes, an elliptical electrode geometry has been designed, manufactured, and implemented. The principal aim was to improve the removal of debris formed during the erosion process that adversely affects the aspect ratio, dimensional accuracy, and surface integrity. The results were compared and discussed to evaluate the effectiveness of electrode geometry on the machining performance of EDD process with respect to the material removal rate (MRR,) the electrode wear rate (EWR), and the tool wear ratio (TWR). Dimensional features an
... Show MoreNonlinear diffraction patterns can be obtained by focusing a laser beam through a thin slice of the material. Here, we investigated experimentally the formation of the far field nonlinear diffraction patterns of cw laser beam at 532 nm passing through a quartz cuvette containing multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT's) suspended in acetone and in DI water at concentrations of 0.030.wt.%, 0.045 wt.%, 0.060 wt.%, and 0.075 wt.%. Our results show that increasing the concentration of both types of suspensions (MWCNTs in acetone and MWCNTs DI water) led to increase in the number of pattern rings which indicates an increase in their nonlinear refractive indices. Moreover, MWCNTs DI water suspension at a concentration of 0.075 wt. % was more effic
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